The first time God said it, the words were tinged with
bemusement and pride.Now they sting,
and bring only frustration.We have
defeated God by acting callously toward God’s creation.The blood of our brothers and sisters, of our
sons and our daughters, cries out to us from the ground[2],
and we stand idly by while our neighbors bleed[3].

When God was ready to make man and woman, we were created in
the Divine Image[4].God wished to entrust humanity with a spark
of the Divine Self.The angels were
consulted: where should this Divine Spark be placed?A suggestion was made: “Let us put it inside
each human being.That is the last place
they will look!”[5]

But it seems we have looked…we have found it…and yet we have
chosen to wrest it from our midst and cast truth to the ground[6] in
favor of the idols of vanity, greed, and violence.

All is foreseen, and yet free will is given.[7]Let us use our free will to realize the best
potential within us.We are better than
this.

Let us not succumb to Islamophobia.

Let us not succumb to xenophobia.

Let us not succumb to homophobia.

Let us not be mired in hatred and mistrust and fear.

Let us embrace one another in love and fellowship.

Let us forget for a moment about Jew, Christian, Muslim,
Baha’i; gay, straight, bisexual; male, female, gender nonbinary; white, black,
brown; rich, poor; or any of the other labels we use to box ourselves in or to
keep others out.